Lumber-drier



(No Model.)

J. L. GASKINS.A

LUMBER DRIER.

. Patented Apr. 12, 1887 witnesses UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. GASKINS, OF STARKE, FLORIDA.

LUMBER-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,958, dated April12, 1887. Y Application tiled December E28, 1856., Serial No. 222,783.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L.V GAsKINs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Starke, in the county of Bradford and State of Florida, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Drying Apparatus,of whichthe fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lumberdrying apparatus, and aimsto over come serious objections to the apparatus of various kinds whichhave preceded it.' This object I attain by the use of the apparatusshown in the accompanying drawings; and the novelty consists in certainfeatures thereof, which will be hereinafter fully described, and pointedout in the claims. i

In the drawings referred to, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dry-houseconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section on the line a: a: of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a verticallongitudinal section ou the line y y of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A designates the dry-house, havingthe heatingcharnber B and the dry-room C separated by the floor C of thedry-room. The heatingchamber B has a series of transverse partitions, b,ruiming across it and extending up to the oor of the dry-room. Thesepartitions are secured in the walls of the building, and their upperedges are provided with a series of cross-notches, c, the function ofwhich will presently appear. The spaces between these partitions arefilled up to the level of the notches c with fine sawdust or any othermaterial which will absorb the moisture from steam-heated air.

A dry-house to accommodate a large quantity of lumber,A brick, and othersubstances to be dried must contain certain drying and heating chambersof large size and capacity, and it is necessary to brace and strengthenthe floor dividing these chambers, otherwise the heavy weightimposedthereon will cause it to sag and destroy itsfirmness.

proper support to strengthen and brace the door of the drying-chamber atall points, and which will not take up space or room in theheating-chamber, I provide the vertical partitions b, hereinbeforereferred to, which extend to the plane of the oor, as clearly shown.

To provide a D is a steam-supply pipe communicating with a boiler orother source,which enters the heatingchamber near its top, and whichconnects with a steam-boiler, as shown. This pipe D enters thelheating-chamber through one of lts walls, and between any two of thepartitions b. It is obvious that the steam will escape from the end ofthe supply-pipe with considerable force, and were it allowed to impingedirectly upon the sawdust in the said heatingchamber would scatter it,and thereby defeat the object of my invention, as will presently appear.To prevent this, therefore, I place a deiiectingblock, d, upon thesawdust just beneath the end 'of the supply-pipe, so that the steam,instead of striking and scattering the sawdust, will strike upon thedeflecting-block, and by it will be deflected toward the floor of thedry-room and diffused beneath the same, passing finto the severalcompartments of the heating-chamber through f the notches c in the upperedges of the partitions b.

Each of the compartments of the heatingchamber has an outletpipe, E,secured in one end and extending through and beneath the door or bottomof the said chamber. rIhese outlet-pipes E are arranged in a line alongor near one side of the building, as will be seen upon reference t-oFigs. l and 2, and a trough, E', is arranged beneath these outlet-pipes,to catch the water escaping therefrom and convey it to thedischarge-pipe F,at one end of the building, as is obvious; or thecondensed water can be carried back or returned to the boiler by meansof suitable pipes, as indicated in Fig. l of the drawings.

The operation of my apparatus will be readily comprehended. The lumberis arranged in the dry-room in the usual manner, and the said roomeffectually and tightly closed. Steam is, then admitted through the Bymy apparatus the moisture in the steam is absorbed,and the lumberorother substances in the drying-chamber is acted on by the heat in thesteam, which dries the Contents more quickly and thoroughly.

By providing a series of separate compartments, andan escape'pipeentering the bottom of each compartment, the escape of the water ofcondensation from the compartments is tacilitutethwhieh would not be theeuse were a single chamber employed in which the water would be liableto settle at the middle.

l am aware that it is not new` broadly, to use sawdust in a d ryingapparatus to absorb the moisture in live steam, nor to place a de-Hector in t'rontof the discharge end of :1 steamsupply pipe; und hence Iconfine myself' to the peoullar oonstrurtion and arrnngement ot' partspointed out in the eluims.

Having thus tullv deserihed my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure hy Letters Patent, is

l. ln a drier7 the eombination ot' the heating and drying chambersseparated by nn inter mediate floor und arranged one beneath the other,the vertical notched partitions located in the heating-chamber andextending from bottom totop thereof' to support the tloor at differentpoints and form a series of compartments in the heating-chamber, eachhaving a filling ol" absorbent material, a steam-supply pipe enteringone ofthe compartments through one ofthe partitions, a series ofindependent escape-pipes opening through the tloor ot' theheating-chamber into the compartments therein, and an escape trough orpipe common to all the escape-pipes of the series, as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. In a drier, the heating-chamber under the dryiugehamber, and dividedin'to a series ofiudependent compartments which comuninieate with oneanother, said compartments bein;r filled with sawdust. andSteam-Supplying means for the heating-chamber, as set t'orth.

ln testimony that y'l claim the foregoing: as my own I have heretoaflixed my lsignature in presence ot' two witnesses.

JOHN L. GASKINS. 1Witnesses:

H. J. ENNIS. WM. N. Moom.

